Fall Blessings

Fall … I love this season. Maybe it is because the air is crisp and one can enjoy warm apple cider. Maybe it is because I can wear my favorite earth tone colors and I fit right in. Maybe it is because the brilliant red leaves match the color of my hair. Maybe it is because my best friend is Autumn. (Smile!) While all of these are true, I love fall best because it leads me to reflect on my blessings and to thank the Lord for His faithfulness to me.

This morning I was studying the Feast of Tabernacles which took place in the fall of the year after the harvest crops had been gathered in. It was a festive occasion full of joy and thanksgiving for God’s blessings. What is significant to me is that it occurred five days after the Day of Atonement. The lesson is that our thanks is greatest when we realize that God has wiped out our sins and that we are fully accepted in Him. Nothing we do can make Him love us more – He already loves us in an infinite amount!

This fall I have had lots of blessings. In early October mom and I each did a presentation for a mother/daughter retreat at Camp AuSable. The colors were at their peak. I got up early Sabbath morning and took my favorite walk around the lake talking to God and thanking Him for creating this just for me!

Another blessing was spending time with our friends Diane Collins and her daughter Elizabeth Barnes from North Carolina who were the speakers. It had been about 10 years since we had seen each other and really visited. Elizabeth and I were so encouraged as we shared God’s leading in our lives since those teenager years as friends.

A BIG blessing was having Autumn home for a week. We went to the zoo, talked, and had loads of fun at a nearby cider mill.

Two Sabbaths ago, my blessing was our fall choral concert. God blessed the choir so much and I could not have been more pleased with the way our concert turned out. Afterward, church members came up to me with tears in their eyes telling me how God had touched their hearts. Since I started this choir it has been my prayer that it would be a form of worship that would lead people to Christ. He has been answering that prayer. This year three non-SDA choir members were baptized – one just last Sabbath. I immediately began praying for another non-member to join as we seem to be baptizing them as fast as they join. Looks like my prayer has been answered as another attending church just asked to join this week.

So now I will pass the blessings on to you through the following two songs – a couple of my favorites from our concert. To watch all our songs visit my website: www.youtube.com/ostermas.